Organic farming helps wildlife – on all farms

Organic farms have around a third more species than conventionally farmed ones, according to new research.

Planet Earth Online says the benefit to biodiversity is greater in intensively-farmed regions, particularly organic farms surrounded by arable land. The site says it could be that having a few organic farms scattered around the landscape could benefit the intensively-cultivated farms in between by providing islands of biodiversity to nurture valuable organisms like bees, which pollinate crops, and predators, which help keep pests under control.